Personal injury attorneys only get paid if the client receives money from those responsible for causing them harm. The attorney gets a percentage of whatever compensation they win for the client, plus any costs associated with pursuing the case. The client gets the rest. Most personal injury lawyers who handle accident injuries such as car accidents are contracted on a contingency fee basis.

If a lawyer takes the case and does not win in court the lawyer will absorb the cost out of pocket, not the plaintiff. This makes contingency fees work well for the plaintiff because the lawyer is paying all the cost, doing the work and taking the risk. Personal injury lawyers can put in hundreds of hours of work and hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs to prepare a case for trial. If they don’t win, they don’t get paid.

What are contingency fees?

A contingency fee is a prior arrangement between lawyer and client in which the lawyer receives a set percentage of the amount of recovery awarded to the plaintiff in a case. In most cases, monetary recovery is obtained through settlement, mediation, arbitration or trial. Generally, when a lawyer takes a case on contingency a client has no obligation to pay the lawyers fee unless the case is successfully resolved. Most lawyers usually have a contingency fee near 30-50% (depending on if the case is settled or goes to trial).

Personal injury lawyers who work on contingency take all risks in order to share in the rewards when the case settles in or out of court. The financial risk for an attorney working on contingency can be significant because in many cases the upfront fees can run into the tens of thousands of dollars, an amount the average person just cannot afford. There is a mutual benefit to this type of arrangement for both clients and the personal injury attorneys. The more compensation an attorney can settle the case for, the more the client receives and the more attorneys make. The attorney takes the risk, does all the work and collects a percentage of the settlement in return while the client receives justice, quality representation and a settlement to compensate for damages and injuries.

No upfront fees means little or no financial risk

A contingency fee arrangement means there is no financial risk to the injured person. Very few people could afford a lawyer if they had to pay attorney’s fees upfront or by the hour. Contingency fee gives common people access to quality representation, justice and compensation.

When you are injured because of someone else’s negligence or carelessness, you have a legal right to be compensated, or paid, for the damages you have suffered. Damages can include medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, loss of future earning capacity and property damage. These damages can be recovered, or paid back to you, by filing a personal injury claim in civil court.

Many insurance companies have their own lawyers and insurance adjusters who work diligently to minimize the payout you receive. Having an attorney on your side with resources to level the field could significantly increase the amount paid in a settlement.

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